The house was supposed to be safe.
A place of homework, laughter, and bedtime routines.

Instead, it became the scene of a tragedy no family should ever endure.

Kourtney Freeman, a bright and innocent 11-year-old girl, was killed inside her own home when a drug deal arranged through Snapchat spiraled into sudden violence. What began as messages on a phone ended with gunfire echoing through walls meant to protect a child.

Kourtney was shot multiple times in front of her family — a moment that shattered their lives forever. In seconds, childhood was stolen, replaced by grief that words can’t hold.

The shooter, Re’Mori Roath, was also a teenager. Arrested and later sentenced to 20 years in prison, he will grow old behind bars. Kourtney will never grow up at all.

Investigators say the fatal confrontation was tied to a drug transaction coordinated on social media — a digital decision with irreversible real-world consequences. Advocates warn that platforms meant for connection are increasingly becoming gateways to danger, especially when children are nearby and unprotected from adult choices.

Kourtney is remembered as joyful, loving, and full of promise — a girl who deserved sleepovers, school dances, and a future still unwritten. Instead, her name now stands as a painful reminder of what happens when violence, drugs, and unchecked access collide.

Her death raises urgent questions:
How did adult crime reach a child’s living room?
Why was an 11-year-old ever within reach of such danger?
And how many warnings are still being missed?

Kourtney Freeman’s story is not just about what was lost —
It is a call to protect children, to take digital risks seriously, and to stop violence before it enters places where innocence should be untouchable. Because no child’s life should end over a message on a screen.